Tag Archives: Kumbabhibeshekam

Recently, I got a forwarded message in one of my WhatsApp groups. It was in Tamil and thought of translating to my limited English..

Since 1000s of years, they used to say/do the following things about temples in India:

*) Dont live in towns without temples

*) In a town, there should be no buildings taller than the temple’s tower.

*) Every 12 years they used to do some Poojas on the temple’s towers. That we call “Kumbabishekam” (This is where my limited knowledge of english comes into play..) 😦 This should also help..

We would be thinking, there are because of the following reasons respectively..

*) God will protect us

*) There is no one above god and so this is a sign of respect

*) Refresh God’s power

But, there is Science behind it.. And that gave me one more reason to become proud being an INDIAN..

Here is the “What” part of Kumbabishekam:

The Crown of the tower in temples are made up some metals like Gold,Silver,Copper,Brass,Lead that we call as “Aimpon/Panchaloha“. These metals will be made in a shape of a cone/cup (We call it as Kalasam) and they will fill it with Millets, Rice, Salt, Corn and few food items kept at the top of the towers. Every 12 years these food items will be taken out and refilled with new ones.

Now comes the “Why”/Science part:

Why do they make the Kalasam and fill it up?

*) All these metals and millets can absorb lighting. So, each tower acts as a “Lightning Rod”. The taller the tower, the wider area it can protect. So, in some temples there will be towers on all four directions. Each of them protect a wide area of the town. If the tower is 50 meters tall, it can protect people within the radius of minimum 50m. (100m in diameter)..These towers absorbs the lightning and protect the whole town. That is the reason, for the saying “Don’t stay in a town without temples”.

*) And in those days, it used to rain for longer.. Sometimes months together.. In those cases, all the crops may be spoiled. And, the houses may also be flooded and even they wont have anything for planting for the next season Now, where do they get the seeds for the next season? The place is from the temple’s Kalasam. So savings for future.

Why refilled every 12 years?

*) 12 years is the expiry period of the seeds kept inside the Kalasam. After 12 years, millets looses the ability to absorb lightning. So, each twelve years, they refill it with fresh ones..

This procedure is being followed for 1000s of years in India. Means, Science has developed this much 1000s of years back.

On reading this, I decided to blog/brag about it and I am feeling proud (as always) to be an INDIAN !!!